Alexa in Canada

In episode 183, Teri welcomes Janice Mandel. Janice Mandel, Communications Advisor for the Open Voice Network Shares Stories About Her Voice Career See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In episode 182, Teri welcomes Marc Ladin, Founder of VoicePunch and Marc Ladin, Founder of VoicePunch Talks About Venture Capital Investments in the Voice Industry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri welcomes Scot Westwater and they discuss if organizations are ready for the voice revolution. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In episode 180 of The Voice in Canada Podcast, Teri welcomes Scott Sandland, CEO of Cyrano.ai. Click here to view the show notes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Conversation Design and Automation See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is Voice Worthy of a User's Trust? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Future of Voiceover and AI See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri welcomes Emily Jones Joanisse and Tas Damen and they discuss "How Connected Canadians Partnered with Amazon Alexa to Help Seniors Stay Connected." See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

From Violinist to Conversational AI Designer See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri welcomes Susan Westwater, CEO of Pragmatic Digital and they discuss voice marketing. Get the episode show notes here. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A Simple Voice Interface API for Web, Mobile, and E-commerce See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Voice Gaming with Wanderword and Poptale See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri welcomes Sarah Andrew Wilson. Sarah Andrew Wilson is the Chief Content Officer at Matchbox.io. Matchbox is the creator of some of the most popular voice applications on Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Samsung Bixby. There are 20 voice applications in their portfolio. It was founded in January 2017 by Joel Wilson.Some of the most popular ones are the Question of the Day, Kids Quiz, and Find my Phone. Matchbox creates and posts high-quality content See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Power of Sonic Transformation, Voice Diversity, and More See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri welcomes Katy Boungard. Katy is a content designer and voice producer that has a background in television and digital. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri announces VoiceCon.LIVE: the first international voice conference on Clubhouse. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Updated Cameras, Speakers, and More See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri welcomes Ian Utile. Ian is a tech entrepreneur and CEO of Attn.Live. Attn.Live is a sonic streaming platform that utilizes social audio to create NFTs while broadcasting live to Alexa and YouTube. Some fun facts about Ian: Ian has 2 boys, lives in a treehouse, and loves building tech companies. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Google Assistant, Voice Talks, and More See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode: Dr. Teri Fisher welcomes Abran Maldanado, Co-Founder of Create Labs Introduces Artificial Intelligence Robot C.L.Ai.R.A. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri welcomes James Poulter, CEO and Co-Founder of Vixen Labs. James discusses why creating voice experiences for brands is so important. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Apr 12, 2021 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Dr. Teri Fisher welcomes Roger Kibbe. Roger is a senior developer evangelist for Samsung Bixby. Roger talks to a lot of developers, designers, and companies and discusses how they can build something really interesting utilizing voice or conversational AI on Bixby. Roger is a technology geek at heart but he is also an extrovert, and the best part is that his work allows him to utilize his strengths. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri welcomes Emerson Sklar. Emerson is the Chief Evangelist at Bespoken. Bespoken is the world leader in testing, training, and monitoring for AI-driven voice and chat experiences. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri welcomes Rana Gujral, CEO of Behavioral Signals, who shares his expertise on emotion detection in voice. Rana is an exceptional forward-looking visionary, who is the CEO of Behavioral Signals. He has spent his career working as an investor, executive, and entrepreneur with extensive experience in enterprise software, product development, strategy, business-building, and emerging markets. Rana was awarded the ‘Entrepreneur of the Month’ by CIO Magazine and the ‘US-China Pioneer’ Award by IEIE. Rana was also listed among the Top 10 Entrepreneurs to follow in 2017 by Huffington Post. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Dr. Teri Fisher welcomes Dr. Joan Palmiter Bajorek, who is the CEO and founder of Women in Voice. Women in Voice is a global organization that provides empowerment for women and minority genders in voice technology. Joan is also a researcher and linguist that is working on The Voice Ecology. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Voice for Aging in Place and a new book! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Monetization of Sleep Sounds See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Audrey Arbeeny is the owner and executive producer of Audiobrain. Audiobrain is a globally recognized sonic branding boutique dedicated to the intentional development of music and sound. Audrey is one of the best in the industry when it comes to sonic branding. According to Audrey, “Sonic branding is the strategic and creative development and deployment of a consistent narrative of a brand.” See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri interviews Sat Ramphal. Sat is the Co-Founder and CEO of XiByte. Sat recently launched the Maya app; a virtual business bot for entrepreneurs.Maya is a conversational bot that helps facilitate administrative tasks and navigates company operations using the power of voice. Maya listens to your goals, ideas, runs administrative tasks, and provides insights on what is needed to grow your idea. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A Talk with Founder and CEO of Skilled Creative See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A Chat with the Cofounder of Siri (Apple) and Viv Labs (Samsung Bixby) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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Jan 19, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jan 12, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Open Voice Network See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A look Towards 2021 and The Roaring 20s See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) Voice Game See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Developer Evangelist talks About Creating a Casino on Alexa See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With Special Guest co-host Noelle Silver See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Conversation Design and Teaching See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Voice in Education See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Avatars for Loved Ones with HereAfter See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Co-Hosted by Ian Utile See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Deals on Alexa, Echo Devices, Smart Home, and More See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

An interview with Nicholas Sawka, AJ Wool, and Benjamin Falvo See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

New Echo, Echo Show 10, Echo Dot, and Dot with Clock See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Canadian Experience with the Country Manager of Amazon Alexa Canada See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How to Create Personalized Skills without Coding See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri welcomes James Vlahos, Founder and CEO at HereAfter, a company that uses conversational AI to help people save and interactively share life stories so that they never have to lose the voices of people they love.Welcome, James!HereAfter is an AI platform designed to allow people to have spoken "conversations" with loved ones who have passed away, based on voice recordings taken while they are still alive. The conversations are made possible by platforms like Amazon Alexa. James is also the creator of DADBOT, a veteran tech journalist for The New York Times, and author of “Talk to Me: How Voice Computing Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Think” His book addresses the economic, cultural, and psychological impact of conversational AI and how it’s altering our traditional perception of human consciousness.His Tech JournalismHe wrote about diverse technology oriented topics, from the HyperLoop to businesses using smell to lure customers into making purchases.From 2015, he developed an interest in Siri and Alexa because he was fascinated by the fact that what we had been learning from science fiction about personified beings who could have conversations with us was actually becoming a reality.He wanted to write about the two voice assistants but ended up approaching it from a different angle, instead writing about how Hello Barbie was created by a company called PullString. PullString was acquired by Apple.For him, writing about that was a great way to get into how to create a dialogue system and teach a computer how to talk. It led him deeper into voice technology.Writing His BookWhen he did the Hello Barbie project, he could see that it was just the tip of the iceberg, and he could see that Amazon, Apple, and Google were battling each other in the voice technology race, and so he knew there was great potential in the space.He realized he couldn’t just fit everything about voice technology into an article so he decided to put it in a book.HereAfterHe was inspired to create it when his late father was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and had a few months to live.James did a conventional oral history project with his father, recording him talking all about his life. He got hours of recordings and had them professionally transcribed.Around the same time, he was involved in conversational AI while researching for his book, and he realized that voice technology was a new way to share those recordings of his father in such a way that he could somehow hold on to him even after he had passed way.He created a conversational app that could be accessed on Facebook Messenger. One could create messages on the app and get audio/video clips from it. He called it the DADBOT.DADBOT has been the basis for everything he has worked on and created ever since.They are working on making HereAfter a scalable technology that anyone can use. They are on Amazon Alexa exclusively and expect to be on Google Assistant soon.They have received mixed feedback from the market. For example, most people want to wait before they record their memories, almost like how people always put off writing a will.Signing Up on HereAfterOne starts by signing up for the service, after which they are orally interviewed by someone in the company.The company then records the person’s life story in a very structured manner with the end product in mind.The audio is then edited and put into the HereAfter system so that when an end user asks a question about that person via Alexa, they hear that person’s voice answering them from the actual recording of that person.They are currently developing an app that will do the interviewing.HereAfter has positively impacted families and enabled them to capture the life stories of their loved ones for the benefit of their present and future family members.Remembrance Versus ReplicationScience fiction movies like HER show us a world where people can have relationships with AI beings on their phones and other devices, which brings up the question of whether we could possibly continue relationships with loved ones who have passed away through technologies like HereAfter.James reiterates that HereAfter is just an advanced tool for remembrance rather than for replication.List of resources mentioned in this episodeHereAfter WebsiteJames on LinkedinThe Comprehensive Flash Briefing Formula CourseThe Voice DenVocalID.aiOther useful resources:Voice in Canada: The Flash BriefingComplete List of Alexa CommandsAlexa-Enabled and Controlled Devices in CanadaTeri Fisher on TwitterAlexa in Canada on TwitterAlexa in Canada Facebook PageAlexa in Canada Community Group on FacebookAlexa in Canada on InstagramPlease leave a review on iTunesShopping on Amazon.ca See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Teri welcomes Dr. Steven Arkonovich, a professor of philosophy at Reed College by day and a leading Alexa skill developer by night.Welcome, Dr. Arkonovich!Dr. Arkonovich began developing Alexa skills in 2015 before the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) SDK was even released and is best known for having the top-rated Alexa skill for weather. Big Sky has over 2,500 reviews and a 4.5-star rating. That puts Big Sky in the top 20 for skill reviews overall and number one in the weather category. He comes on to talk about his experience in creating skills for Alexa and Bixby, and his award winning skill, Big Sky.Philosophy Professor to Voice Technology EnthusiastA combination of trying to put off doing a research project and an Achilles tendon injury is what ultimately led him into developing an interest in voice technology, He was confined to a chair for a long time and so he was looking for things to do.He got an Alexa device early on and he liked the technology. He kept hacking around with it to have it do things that it wasn’t capable of doing at the time, like play music on his stereo or turn his lights on and off.Coding ExperienceHe hadn’t done any coding before he got into Alexa skill development.The fact that critical aspects of philosophy and coding are similar helped him in his start as a skill developer.He wanted to integrate Alexa into his music server software so he could tell Alexa to play his preferred songs or albums. That was when he was referred to an actual Alexa skill developer who was doing some early Alexa projects.The developer wrote some basic code for him, but it had some issues and he decided to fix them himself. That’s how he started self-teaching himself the necessary coding to do to the skill development.His First SkillsIt was a lights integration skill which included color loops and timers, features that are not yet available in any Alexa skill or device.He would use it to control his lights.He also developed skills for Evernote integration, Google Calendar integrations, and other things.The Google Calendar integration skill is actually still available in the skill store.Big SkyThis is his flagship skill and it’s all about the weather.He created it to give him much more detailed and obscure weather information that at the time Alexa didn’t provide. Amazon has since upped their game in that regard.He didn’t think much about it when he published it, but then over a period of six months, people started using it and it became very popular.Facing Skill ImitationsHe has unique features in his skill (Big Sky), but he has witnessed some concerning issues with Amazon copying some of his features into their own weather skill.Asking for the weather from Big Sky or Alexa is similar in certain ways, but Big Sky is much more detailed in the forecasts it provides. It, for example, analyses the weather behind the scenes to find interesting patterns like whether the chance of rain is increasing or decreasing.The data it provides comes from the Dark Sky API.Takeaways From Alexa LiveHe loved the event and the features Amazon released.He thinks the Quick Links feature is going to be beneficial for all users including Alexa skill developers. The NFI tool kit will also be great for developers and users depending on how it will be implemented.Other features that he liked included Alexa Conversations (which was integrated into Big Sky).List of resources mentioned in this episodeDr. Steven Arkonovich on TwitterBig SkyThe Comprehensive Flash Briefing Formula CourseThe Voice DenOther useful resources:Voice in Canada: The Flash BriefingComplete List of Alexa CommandsAlexa-Enabled and Controlled Devices in CanadaTeri Fisher on TwitterAlexa in Canada on TwitterAlexa in Canada Facebook PageAlexa in Canada Community Group on FacebookAlexa in Canada on InstagramPlease leave a review on iTunesShopping on Amazon.ca See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.